Animal-like ride-on toy vehicle

Abstract

A ride-on vehicle for a pre-school child in the form of a four-legged animal-like figure on wheels propelled by the feet of a child astride the figure. The figure which is mounted on a platform supported on a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels is composed of a collapsible fabric casing shaped to define the animal-like form and at least one bladder within the casing which when inflated, then erects the figure. The fabric forelegs of the figure extend over the sides of the front wheels and the fabric rear legs of the figure extend over the sides of the rear wheels whereby the wheels are concealed and the child astride the figure appears to be riding the figure, not the platform.

Description

1. Field of InventionThis invention relates generally to ride-on toy vehicles for pre-school children in the form of a small animal-like figure on wheels which is pushed and propelled by a child astride the figure by the feet of the child, and more particularly to a vehicle of this type in which the figure is formed by a collapsible fabric casing enclosing at least one inflated bladder.2. Status of Prior ArtThe historic precursor of a vehicle in the form of a four-legged animal-like figure on wheels is the Trojan horse formed by a large hollow wooden horse on wheels. This horse which according to Homer was wheeled into the open gates of Troy, had hidden in its torso Greek warriors.A modern version of the Trojan horse popular with pre-school children whose ages are in the one to three years range is constituted by, a hollow, four-legged animal figure, such as one resembling a pony, molded of rigid synthetic plastic material. This plastic figure is mounted on four wheels to create a r...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

A. the soft figure of the vehicle acts to cushion the child astride the figure to provide a comfortable ride;

B. the vehicle is cushioned from collisions with walls and furniture thereby preventing bump marks or other types of damage; and

Problems solved by technology

And in some cases, when the vehicle moving a fairly high speed collides with a wall, the child astride the vehicle will then be thrust forward and he may strike his head against the rigid head of the plastic figure and be injured thereby.

The size of a toy dictates the box required to package and ship it, the larger the box the greater are packaging and shipping costs.

Also the larger the box, the greater is the shelf space required to display the toy in a retail store and in storing the toy.

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